This year the main thema of the second communal Forum , which was held on November 16th, 2011 in Velden, was athe financing of the local community, innovations and coopeartions´. It was visited by eminent representatives of Carinthia and- of course- the representatives of the communities for who the Forum was meant. The European Commissioner Joahnnes Hahn was the main speaker at this Forum. He reported about his work and the perspectives in the new initiative period 2014-2020. About 35 millions of European inhabitants are living in less or poorly developed areas. In the future the less developed regions will receive 70% of the promotion funds. (In Slovenia the Eastern part of the country could apply for these funds) Just an interesting information: in the past years Carinthia received 67 millions EUR for cross border cooperation. The Forum was visited also by some Slovenian and Italian community representatives. It is a pity that the coordination in preparing the Forum was not too good, what was a reason for a smaller number of participants and therefore smaller meaning of the Forum. The Alps-Adriatic Centre took part at both Forums, since it tried to increase the number of Slovenian visitors, however one of the most important roles of the Centre is connecting Carinthian communities with Slovenian ones and this will be continued in the future, too, regardless of the Forum.
Photo: from the left: Mayor of Bled Janez Fajfar, Carinthian Governor Gerhard Dorfler, Mayor of Velden Ferdinand Vouk.
